How DNA Testing Botched My Family’s Heritage, and Probably Yours, Too

In the fever days of consumer DNA testing, my aunt decided she would use it to help fill out our family tree. This set off a minor family panic. My grandfather was a Syrian man, but our testing showed no Middle Eastern heritage at all. Through reporting this feature for Gizmodo, I found the root cause wasn’t some juicy family secret, but instead a flaw in the tests themselves.

(Photo of my cute grandparents on their wedding day.)